Riding in the Himalayas
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You’ve been planning forever to get there.
You feel nervous but excited. You’ve longed for and dreaded this experience. Riding a motorcycle at high altitude in such an isolated place is dangerous and challenging. But you longed for the exhilaration of arriving at that pass and achieving your goal.
It is a clear sunny day with bright blue skies. But the weather changes dramatically in less than an hour! The road snakes up the mountain, sheer drops every inch of the way. Everything beneath looks tiny. Across the valley are white topped Himalayan peaks and in front of you; beautiful black tarmac.
Few kilometres down and the roads begin to deteriorate. The body begins to take a beating. You curse yourself for making your body go through this ordeal.
The riding gets slower and harder. Up and down, rut after rut. The wind is chilly outside. You ride with your helmet visor down. But then, you soon notice the visor fogging up immediately. The visor comes up again. Your trusted Enfield manages in the thin air until; finally, you see thousands of colourful prayer flags fluttering in the wind. You are there!
You feel like you are on top of the world, in some cases quite literally. The scenery combined with the lack of oxygen takes your breath away. You then see the seemingly endless, wild, snow covered Himalayas all around you. You then understand why, for so many people, across many religions the Himalayas are sacred and venerated.
And then after you’ve gone back home, and you’ve seen the photographs, it all begins to sink in. The magnitude, the splendour of the Himalayas!
And for as long as you’ll live you are sure to remember those magnificent days and your motorcycle ride up some of the world’s highest motorable roads.
